Two foundations support racial ethnic minority scholarships

Nov 07, 2006

Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary has received two grants to help fund the institution’s student scholarship endowment.

In September, The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations awarded Louisville Seminary a grant of $200,000. The Foundations seek to provide financial assistance to certain educational, cultural, scientific, and religious institutions, primarily in support of private higher education, secondary education, graduate theological education, health care, and public television. The Seminary’s proposal to increase its financial support to benefit racial ethnic minority students fit well with the Foundations’ mission.

“We believe that building upon the excellent reputation and history of Louisville Seminary by clearing the way for racial ethnic minority students to obtain a formal theological education is a crucial service to the church,” said President Dean K. Thompson. “To partner with the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations in this endeavor is a blessing both for our institution and for the students we prepare for service to the church and society.”

In October, the William Randolph Hearst Foundations announced in The Chronicle of Philanthropy a grant in the amount of $100,000 to Louisville Seminary to aid the school’s scholarship endowment for minority students.

“The generous grant from the Hearst Foundations adds to a previously established grant of $100,00 for student aid,” said Seminary Relations Vice President Cathy Dawson. “With the support of these two foundations, we now have $400,000 in place to support diversity scholarships.”

The charitable goals of the Hearst Foundations reflect the philanthropic interests of William Randolph Hearst—Education, Health, Social Service and Culture. According to its mission, the Foundations assist institutions in providing opportunities to underserved and underrepresented populations.

The support of underserved, minority students through these funds is consistent with the Seminary’s increased focus on racial ethnic diversity, including the calling of four new faculty, a new permanent Cultural Diversity Committee in its governance structure, and substantial work, financed by two grants from the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, on the development of anti-racism resources for practical theological education.